Heroin

Heroin is a natural opiate. It's made from the morphine which comes from the opium poppy. Like many drugs made from opium, including the synthetic opioids like methadone, heroin is a very strong painkiller.

Heroin sold as 'brown' is sometimes used by clubbers as a chill out after a big night out. Brown is still heroin, some people mistakenly think it's not as addictive.

ID: Brown, skag, H, horse, gear, smack.

Appearance and use

Heroin comes as a white powder when it's pure such as that used by doctors. But thanks to the range of substances it's cut with, street heroin can be anything from brownish white to brown.

It can be smoked, snorted or dissolved in water and injected.

Cost

Feeding a heroin habit can cost up to £100 a day. Finding the money to fund a habit is tough and some users turn to crime to get the money they need.

Purity

Heroin is big business. And the more cheap fillers dealers can mix with it to pad it out, the more cash they'll make.

A user has no way of knowing what their heroin is mixed with. Recent tests have shown it can contain nutmeg, brick dust, and ground-up gravel.

The Effects

• Heroin slows down body functioning and stops physical and psychological pain.
• Most users get a rush or buzz a few minutes after taking it.
• A small dose of heroin gives the user a feeling of warmth and well-being.
• Bigger doses can make the user sleepy and very relaxed.
• The first dose of heroin can bring about dizziness and vomiting.

Chances of getting hooked

Big time even when it's smoked. Heroin is not addictive instantly but over time the desired effects reduce so much that users have to take more and more just to get the same effects and even more just to feel 'normal'. Effects on the brain cause 'craving' and strong psychological and physical dependence.

Drugs have been developed to help treat heroin addiction. These include substitutes for heroin such as methadone and subutex (bupranorphine) and also drugs like naltrexone that block the effects of heroin so you can't get a high.

The risks

• Deaths from overdose occur. But the risk increases after a period off the drug because the body's tolerance for the drug goes down.
• Excessive doses can lead to coma and even death from respiratory failure.
• If heroin is taken with other drugs, including alcohol, overdose is much more likely.
• Other downers such as benzodiazepine tranquillisers are also associated with heroin overdose deaths.
• There's a risk of death due to inhaling vomit as heroin stops the body's cough reflex working properly.
• Injecting heroin can do nasty damage to your veins and has been known to lead to gangrene.
• The risks of sharing needles and other works to inject are well-known, putting you in danger of infections like hepatitis B or C and of course HIV/AIDS.

The law

Heroin is a class A drug. This means that possessing it can lead to a prison sentence of up to 7 years and an unlimited fine. Supplying (which includes giving it to a friend) could lead to a life sentence and another unlimited fine.

Fact: Passing drugs among friends is supplying in the eyes of the law.

Fact: A drug conviction could stand between you and your ideal job.